better half

noun

1. a person's wife.

2. a person's husband.

better half

noun

1. humorous,  one's spouse

Word History and Origins

Origin of better half¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Idioms and Phrases

Also, better part . The larger amount or majority of something, as in I won't be long; the better half of this job is complete , or I have spent the better part of my life in this city . Sir Philip Sidney used the first term in Arcadia (1580): “I ... shall think the better half of it already achieved.” The variant appears in a well-known proverb, discretion is the better part of valor .

Also, my better half . One's (my) spouse, as in I'm not sure if we can go; I'll have to check with my better half . Originally this expression meant “a close friend or lover,” and by the 16th century it referred to either a wife or lover. Sidney used it in this way, again in Arcadia: “My dear, my better half (said he), I find I must now leave thee.” Today it tends to be used lightly for either husband or wife. “Late 1500s”

Example Sentences

Then Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman’s better half, suggested Robert Redford and the rest is history.

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After attending the Paris Games, the Cornishmen are potentially eyeing a return flight to LAX in three years, pending the approval of their better halves, of course.

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Things aren’t great for the Bruins two games into Bieniemy’s first season leading an offense that was supposed to be the team’s better half.

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Gage has offered his apologies to Twain for “wasting her time” when she serenaded the “Road House” actor and celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton — who was Gage’s better half ... briefly.

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But they have plenty of time to think about how to find the necessary balance and chemistry to make the second half the better half of their season.

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